EN:Able Futures, in partnership with Source Solutions UK, delivered the Pathways into Construction course in Hull between January and June 2022. In that time 65 learners were trained to be work ready.
The programme was specifically designed to provide learners from disadvantaged backgrounds with a clear path to successfully obtain employment during or after completing it. Its purpose was to also support the construction sector, a sector that is growing quickly in the Hull City Council geography. This is reflected in the Hull City Wide Partnership, where the council and volume house builders have developed a partnership to support procurement, delivery and social value outcomes.
The majority of each course took place in Bransholme at the Humber Construction Hub, a construction training centre designed as a replica of a real construction site to support the construction of a £10 Billion Wawne View housing development.
The course curriculum included practical work experience such as outdoor painting, plastering and civils works, alongside classroom based L1 Health and Safety in Construction, L3 Emergency First Aid at work, L2 Manual handling; CSCS Card preparation assessment and application. Alongside this, learners were also given ongoing mentoring and personal support to support them with barriers they experienced which prevented them from obtaining work prior to the programme.
Following completion, learners were surveyed; 62% saying they had improved their workplace skills, two-thirds (65%) had increased their career readiness, and 70% stated that their personal confidence for work and in their home life had increased.
One learner, Andy, who had been out of work for a year, said he got a job as direct result of completing Pathways into Construction and has now done further training, passing a Street-Works course paid for by his new employer, which he said has change his life.
Out of the 65 learners completing the programme, 30 were ready to find work, with 21 gaining employment in the construction sector at the time of writing.
A short film about Pathways into Construction and some of the learners that took part in it can be viewed here.
